An 'IPP' is a sentence of 'imprisonment for public protection'. It's basically the same as a 'life' sentence in that there is no fixed term but the judge lays down a 'tariff' which specifies the
minimum period that must be served in prison before the offender can be
considered for release. (The only real difference between an IPP and a life sentence is that a 'lifer' is always on licence after their release, whereas someone sentenced to an IPP can eventually come to the end of their licence period).
Anyone who is sentenced to an IPP will not be released from prison (even at the end of their tariff period) unless it is deemed safe to release them back into society. To show this, they need (among other things) to have satisfactorily completed all of the relevant courses in prison. There has been widespread concern, from prison reformers, that many of these courses simply aren't available, which means that many IPP prisoners will spend many years more in prison than they might have done if they'd been able to take the courses.
However, an IPP can only be given if the alternative would be a sentence of at least 2 years imprisonment. Further, as far as I'm aware (and based upon the information on the HM Prison Service website) it can't be given for an offence where the maximum term of imprisonment is less than 10 years. (Which rules out convictions for ABH). However, Barmaid's a barrister; I'm not!. So maybe she knows something that I don't ;-)
http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/adviceandsup port/prison_life/lifesentencedprisoners/
With no specific information available about the exact nature of the (alleged?) offence, it's difficult to guess at a possible sentence but offenders appearing before the Crown court for ABH (with a previous record of violence) often seem to r